via Alto Nivel

Transportation apps are increasingly becoming a safety hazard in Egypt, not just for girls and women but everyone. The behaviour of the drivers is an issue, and nowadays, you can never predict what’ll happen during your next ride as each scenario seems crazier than the previous.

If you’re of the few people in Egypt who don’t use transportation apps, let us inform you of how things typically and problematically occur.

 

via Latam Mobility

The Driver Dilemma

Women struggle every time they decide to use public transport due to their vulnerability to harassment and other forms of sexual assault. Thus, they often opt for the seemingly ‘safer’ option of private transportation apps, such as Uber, Careem, and Didi, at an increased price.

But how frequently do you hear people joke that they think their drivers are kidnapping them because they take a different route or ignore the commands of the GPS? Unfortunately, it happens more than we’d like! And while people joke about it, the fear we experience when drivers go off-route is no laughing matter.

Besides that, the meant-to-be dependant applications for transportation are becoming more unreliable based on which payment method you select for the trip. For example, many drivers refuse rides that are credit card paid, and this is after they come to your pick-up location to ask you to cancel the Visa-paid trip so the cancellation fee will not fall on them.

 

via CMARIX

Can the Problem Be Fixed?

We understand drivers are trying to have financial liquidity by solely accepting cash-paid trips and not wasting their cellular data on Google Maps. But part of their job entails ensuring customers’ safety; this means more security and monitoring regarding these applications and putting more thought into who they hire.

Overall, safety precautions preventing uneasy feelings among customers and conflict must be implemented. We hope to see a change in the upcoming years for these popularly used transportation apps so that they can provide us with a fast, reliable, and safe transport service.